Neetzan Zimmerman

After Paul Ryan spent Saturday morning at a town hall meeting in Ohio's Youngstown State University once again blaming President Obama for the shuttering of GM plant that closed before he took office, his campaign decided to show off their candidate's compassionate side with a detour to a soup kitchen in Canfield.

The [Ryan] family put on aprons and washed several large pans, though they did not appear to need washing, according to a pool reporter. There also was no one to serve at the soup kitchen, as breakfast had ended.

The sorry charade didn't quite end there.

The Washington Postreports that after the dishwashing part of the show was over, reporters were corralled and led back to the press bus.

As Ryan exited the building some minutes later, a small group of people, some of whom appeared to be homeless, seemed to engage Ryan, and the candidate stopped for several moments and spoke with them.

The campaign escorted photographers from the bus for Ryan's exchange, but reporters were not allowed to do so. Ryan's motorcade took off for the airport a few moments later.

Asked why reporters weren't allowed to listen in on Ryan's exchange with the "homeless-appearing people," a campaign aide said it "was not open to press because it was an impromptu conversation."